Tandem sewing machine outfit



Nov. 13, 1934. F. WEBB 1,980,603

TANDEM SEWING MACIIIJIE OUTFIT Filed Dec. 27. 1932 7 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 13, 1934. 1 F, WEBB' 1,980,603

TANDEM SEWING MACHINE OUTFIT Filed Deo.' 27. 1932 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 13, 1934. F` WEBB TANDEM SEWING MACHINE OUTFIT Filed Dec. 27. 1932 7 Sheets-Sheet 3 Nov. 13, 1934. F. WEBB 1,980,603

' 'TANDEM SEWING MACHINE OUTFIT Filed Dec. 2?. 1932 v sheets-sheet 4 I HMH IIIIIIIIIMMHWIIIIII|III|IHNI WWW Nov. 13, 1934. l,v F. WEBB 1,980,603

TANDEM SEWING MACHINE OUTFIT Fl ed Dec. 27. 1932 v 7 Sheets-Sheet 5v l. F. wEBB- 1,980,603

TANDEM SEWING MACHINE OUTFIT Filed Deo. 27. 1932 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Nov. 13, 1934.

[may E man Nov, 13, 1934. F. WEBB 1,980,603

TNDEM SWING MCHINE-OUTFIT Filed nec. 27, 1932 l 7 sheets-Sheet 7 /ym gwuwm Irving Webb Patented Nov. 13, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Singer Manufacturing Company,

Elizabeth,

N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Y Application December 27, 1932, Serial No. 648,854

16 Claims.

This invention relates to sewing machines and more particularly to a tandem arrangement of sewing machines, one behind another, which may be operated by one operator; the second or rearwardly disposed machine performing its sewing operation upon a-portion of the work which has passed through the iirst machine.

As one of the chief advantages realized by the arrangement of two sewing machines in tandem is the elimination of the need for an additional operator for the second machine, the present invention has for an object to provide simplified and improved means for the support, direction, guidance and delivery of the work to the second machine, so that the operator need have no concern as to the operation of the second machine but may devote her entire attention to the operation of the iirst machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means for automatically delivering and accurately guiding a fringed strip to the second machine, so as to adapt the outfit for the sewing of such fringed strip to the edge of a rug or the like which has been passed through the first machine for an initial or preliminary sewing operation.

lStill further, the invention has for an object to provide for the synchronized driving of the two machines from a Suitable source ofy power and the starting and stopping and manual control thereof.

With the above and otherv objects in View, as will hereinafter appear, the invention comprises the devices, combinations, and arrangements of parts hereinafter set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawings of a preferred embodiment of the invention, from which the several features of the invention and the advantages attained thereby will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. v

1n the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a tandem sewing machine outfit embodying the invention.. Fig. 2 is a left side elevation of the tandem sewing machines and the intermediate fringe delivering and guiding mechanism. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3, Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4 4, Fig. l. Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the outt with the fringe delivering mechanism omitted. Fig. 6r is a rear elevation of the second or rearwardly disposed sewing machine, Fig. 7 is a right side elevation of the machines and intermediate fringe delivering mechanism. Figs. 3a and 8b are detail sectional views of a puller-feed clutch associated with the second sewing machine. Fig. 9 is a detail View of a flexible coupling used to connect the first sewing machine to an external driveshaft which is synchronized with the second ma'- chine. Fig. 10 `is a top plan view ofthe basemembers which receive the two sewing machines. Fig. l1 is a perspective View of the work .and fringe guides rassociated with the second machine. Figs. 12, 13 and 14 are transverse sections through the work and fringe guides taken progressively nearer to the sewing point of the second machine. Fig. 15 is a perspective view ofthe fringe guide shown in Figs. 13 and 14. Fig. 16 is a perspective view of the rug-edge guide shown in Figs. 13 and 14. Fig. 17 is a view ofthe needle and loopers of the first machine. Fig. 18 is a 70v view of the needles and loopers of the second machine, and Fig. 19 is a perspective View of a sample of work produced by the machines.

1 represents a table-top supported by legs 2. Mounted on the table-top 1, Fig. l0, is a forwardly disposed rectangular base-plate 3 on one end of which is stationed a conventional three-thread overedge stitching or` overseaming machine A of the well knownlSinger 81-.12 variety which is constructed substantially. in accordance with the disclosure of the United States patent to A. Grieb, No. 932,2'72, of Aug. 24, 1909, and has a reciprocating needle 4, a threaded looper 5, an overedge looper 6; a four-motion feed-dog 6', a presser-foot 6, and a main-shaft s', the 85 base 3 having a rectangular walll rising therefrom and surrounding the machine A and serving to retain oil drippings from the machine. The base-plate 3 is fastened tothe table-topi .by means of bolts 8 which pass through slots 9L'in 9 0 the base plate and through. thetable-top. vThe bolt-heads 8 within the walls 7 are surrounded by internal walls 10 which prevent oil-drippings within the main cavity defined by the walls. 7 from escaping through the slots 9.

VMounted on the table-top 1 in rear of the base 3 and first machine A is a second base-plate 11 on, which is stationed a conventional chainstitch sewing machine B of the well known Singer 147--38 variety having two needles 12, two thread- 100 ed loopers 13, a four-motion feed-dog 14, a presser-foot 15, and main-shaft s2. The basev 11 has a rectangular wall 16 surrounding the second machine B to confine oil drippings. Threaded int-o the bottom of the base 1l are. bolts 17 which 1.05 extend downwardly through slots 18 in the-tabletop 1 and receive nuts 19, Fig.' 6, by which the base 11 is fastened to the table-top. The slots 18 extend lengthwise of the base 11 and permit adjustment of the second machine B transverse- 110 `ly of its direction of feed or lengthwise of its main-shaft s2. The slots 9 in the base 3 permit adjustment of the base 3 and first machine A in a direction parallel to the directionV of feed and transversely of its main-shaft s or toward and away from the second machine B. The purpose of these adjustments will be hereinafter explained. A short length of pipe 2G screwed into a hole in the base 11 and extended downwardly through a clearance slot 21 in the table-top 1 has a cap 22 screwed to its lower end; the cap 22 being fitted with a conventional wire-clamp 23 for detachably securing a glass jar 24 to the cap 22. Oil drippings from the machine B collect in the cavity in the plate 11 and drain into the jar 24 which may be readily removed and emptied from time to time.

Power for operating the machines A and B is supplied by a conventional electric transmitter 25 comprising an electric motor and friction clutch, controlled by the treadle 26, for establishing' and interrupting driving relation between the`motor and the driven or output pulley 27, at the will of the operator. The transmitter pulleyj27 is connected by a belt 28 .to the pulley 29 on the main shaft s2 of the second machine B. The main-shafts s and s2 of the two machines are connected together in synchronized and timed relation by means of a conventional silent chain-drive including the sprockets t', t2 and chain c.` The sprocket t is fast upon an extension shaft SX `which is journaled in bearings 30 rising from the .base 3 and is directly connected' to the main-shafts' of the first machine A by means of a lconventional flexible coupling 31. Fixed to the extension shaft sx between the bearings 28 is a hand-wheel 32 within convenient reach of the operator, whereby the machines may be turned over manually to raise their needles from the work forvthreading or for other usual purposes. It is understood, of course, that the needles of the machines A and B reciprocate in synchronisrn and in phase. that'is, the needles 4 and 12 reach their highest points at `substantially the same instant of time and all descend simultaneously. The four-motion feeds 6 and 1'4 of the two machines are adjusted to 1 the same stitch-length. The adjustment protightness for quiet running.-

vvidedfor the forwardly disposed machine base 3 enables thechain c to be adjusted to the proper The adjustment provided for the rearwardly disposed"machine base l1 enables the entire machine B to be set relative to the machine A so that the line of the edge-guide 63 is slightly, say about 1A; inch, inside or to the left, Fig. 5, of the line of the edgeguide 63 of the forwardly disposed machine A. This is found to favor the automatic presentation of thework to the second machine. The pulley t' vis adjustable longitudinally of the extension shaft sx to permit it to be readily lined up with the companionvpulley t2. The rearwardly disposed machine B has incorporated in it a conventional puller-feed comprising the intermittently driven lower feed-roll 33 and upper spring-pressed presser-roll 34. The feed-roll 33 is fixed to a shaft 35 which is journaled 'in Vbrackets 36 and is given aV step-by-step rotary motion by means of an eccentric 37, Fig. 5, on the main-shaft s2. The eccentric 37 is connectedby the pitman 38 toV an arm 39 fixed to the hub 40 of a clutch-roll driver 41 loose on the shaft 35. The clutch-roll driver 41 isY notched to receive the Vusual driving clutch-rolls 42 which, together with the driver 41, are received Within a clutch cavity 43, Fig. 8a, in one end of a cylindrical member 44, Fig. 6, fixed to the puller-feed shaft 35. To prevent backward rotation of the shaft 35, during the recovery stroke of the clutchdriver 41, there is provided in a cavity 45, Fig. 8b, in the other end of the cylindrical member 44 a stationary carrier 46 for the anchory clutch-rolls 47. Theccarrier 46 is similar to the driver 41 and has a hub 48 to which is fixed an anchor-arm 49 the lower slotted end of which straddles an anchor blocl `50 fixed to the bed of the machine. The cylindrical member 44 and puller-feed shaft 35'are thus free to be turned in the direction of' feed of the work but are held against turning in the reverse direction by the anchor clutch-rolls 47.

Mounted. on the table 1, between the machines A and B, is a horizontal work-supporting bridgeplate 51, Figs. 2 and 5, the vertical shank 52 of which is tapped to receive a wing-screw 5,3 which passes through the vertical slot 54 in a supporting post 55 the foot 56 of which is screwed to the table-top 1. The bridge-plate 51 is preferably adjusted vertically to a level somewhat higher than the cloth-plate 57 of the second machine B," or substantially even with the work-supporting plate 58 of the rug-edge and fringe-guiding device to be described. The forward edge 51 of bridge-plate 51 ispreferably bent down slightly so as to dip below the level of the cloth-plate 57 ofthe first machine A which preferably stands ata level higher than the level of the cloth-plate 57 of the second machinevB. The purpose of this arrangement is to support the leading corner of the rug issuing from the first machine until it rests safely upon the work-supporting plate 58 of the guiding devices associated with the second machine, and to insure that such corner will notcatch upon the forward edge 51 of the bridge-plate or on the forward edge of the work-supporting plate 58.

The work-guiding devices associated with the second machine B are preferably constructed as follows: Pivotally mounted at 59 on a base-plate 60, secured to the cloth-plate 57, is the work-supporting plate 58 previously referred to. Adjustably secured to the plate 58 by screws 61 is the foot 62 of an edge-guide 63 the vertical workedge-engaging wall of which is wholly at one side of the stitchingzone of the machine, the

forward end 64 of the edge-guide being inclined or curved outwardly away from the stitching zone. Theedge-guide 63 has an overhanging lip 65 which at its forward end is enlarged and curved upwardly to constitute a preliminary fringe-support 66, Fig. 12. Overlying and spaced above the edge-guide 63 and lip 65 is a main fringe-,supporting plate 6'7` having slotted feet 68l secured by screws 69 to the plate 58. The plate 67 has at its delivery end, immediately adjacent the presserfoot 15, a fringe-edge-guiding wall'l() and overhanging fringe-edge-confining lip 71. Depending frornthe plate 67 is a rug-pile engaging fin 72 which is curved at its forward end and lower edge to engage and brush or straighten up the pile- ,bres along the edge of the pile of the rug,-so that v the fringe-edge will be delivered by the edge-guiding wall 70 in abutting relation with the pile-edge, as shown in Fig. 18, and so that the fringe edge will not overlap any of' the pile fibres at the pileedge.

By referring to Figs. 11 and 16 it will be observed that the side edge-guiding wall 63and top edgeconfining wall 65 are flared outwardly and upwardly, respectively at their forward ends to form a sort of funnel mouth to catch the leading corner of a rug issuing from the first 'machine and 4'direct it into the second machine. It will be observed that in the present 'instance the rug to be fringed comprises a base 73 and pile 74. The base 73 projects beyond the edge of the vpile 74 and it is to this projecting or so-'called header portion of the base 73 that the fringe is to be sewn. The fringe comprises a woven edge-portion 75 from one edge of which extends the fringe fibres 76.

The fringe supply is herein shown as wound on a stiff at card 77 which is held by being wedged in the slotted ends 78, Fig. 4, of the alined shaftsections 79, 79 journaled in bearings 80 of a pipestand 81 screwed to the table-top 1. Collars 82 are screwed 'on the shaft-sections 79, 79 'at the inner ends of the bearings to prevent endwise separation of the shaft-sections. One of the collars carries a wing-screw 83 so that it may be readily loosened to permit removal of an emptir fringe-supply card 77 and replacement of a full card.

Pivotally mounted on la horizontal portion 84 of the pipe-stand 81 is a gravity operated slackfringe-controlling rod 85. The rod 85 is parallel to and spaced from the horizontal pipe-stand member 84. One end of the rod 85 is looped at 86 around the member 84. The other end is looped at 87 around the member 84 and then bent to theform shown in Fig. 3 to provide stopportions 88 adapted to strike the vertical portion of the pipe-stand 81 and limit the pivotal movement of 'the slack-fringe-controller 85 in opposite directions. The fringe strip 75 passes downwardly from the top edge of the card 77 under the rod 85 and over the horizontal pipe member 84 and thence under an inclined guiding stud 89, Fig. 12, projecting downwardly and laterally from the opposit'ely inclined end 90 of a carrier arm 91 pivotally secured at 92 to the head of the second machine B. The oppositely inclined or downwardly divergent parts 89 and 90 guide the fringe 75 leading downwardly from the supply and deliver it onto the plate 67. Any upwardly and inwardly misplaced or overfolded fringe fibres are brushedor deflected away from the stitching zone by means of the inclined sideedge 93 of a foot 94 spaced above the fringesupporting plate 67 and carried by thearm 91. The plate 67 is formed at its front end `with a forwardly and upwardly extending tongue 67EL having an inclined edge 67b which engages the under side of the fringe-strip and catches any downwardly misplaced or underfolded fringe fibres and defiects the same out of the stitching zone and on top of the plate 67. The inclined guide-pin 89 is adjustable up and down or longitudinally of the slot 89a in the supporting bar 91 so as to cause the fringe strip to engage or rub lightly' over the tongue 67a to insure that the latter will catch any underfolded fringe fibres. The foot 94 is adjustable toward or away from the fringe-strip 75 passing over the plate 67. This adjustment is provided by slotting the shank of the foot 94 at 94 through which the fastening bolt 94" passes. A brace 91', Fig. 2, fixed to the arm 91 and resting against the head of the machine B, prevents downward displacement of the guides 89, 90 and 94.

To relieve the fringe-strip of undue strain and facilitate its free and easy delivery to the second machine B, means are preferably provided for frictionally driving the shaft-section 79 to unreel the fringe from the card 77, To this end there is frictionally mounted on suchy shaftsection 79' a split pulley 95, Figs. 2 and 7, the tw`o halves of which are caused to yieldingly hug the shaft-section 79V by means of the springs 96 Which embrace the bolts 97 projecting from onehalf of the pulleyry through holes in the web of rthe other pulley-half. The frictional grip of the pulley 95 uponrits supporting shaft-section 79 is very light and only sufficient to drive the shaft-sections in a direction to unwind the fringe strip 'Z5-from the card 77.v The pulley 95 is connected b y a belt 98 running over a pair of idlers 99 to a driving pulley 100 xed to the pullerfeed shaft 35. It will be observed that the driving pulley 10'0 is small whereas the driven pulley 95 has a diameter several times that of the pulley 100. The pulley sizes are preferably so chosen that the length of fringe-strip vdelivered from a full card in one revolution lof the card will be a little less than that requiredv by the feed of the work through the machines The additional demand by the machine' B for fringe will exert a pull on the fringe which willcause the shaftsection 79 to slipwithin the pulley 95. Asthe mass of fringe 75 on vthe card 77 becomes smalle;` there will be less fringe delivered per revolution of the card and more slippage of the shaft-section 79 within the pulley 95. Under any condition, however, the pulley 95 will drive the card 77 over its dead-center or substantially vertical positions, where'a pull upon the fringe 75 by the feed of machine B will have little tendency of itself to cause the card 77 to turn;

t will be observed from Fig'. 5 that the means 89, 90 for directing the fringe strip 75 to' the "fringe-edge guide 70 is so disposed that the fringe-strip will extend at anangle to the line of feed, or rather to a vertical plane through the line offeed. Y In otherwordathe fringe strip 75 overlaps the rug to a greater 'extent'wher'e it passes around the guide-pin 89 than it does where it passes the edge--guide 70.l This inclina'- tion of the fringe strip causes it to hug the 'edgeguide 7 0`at all times without attention by the operator.

The rugs are mainly supported in an unrolled or flat condition by a roller-conveyor comprising'a table-top 101 and legs 102. Mounted on the table-top 101 in parallelism with the line of feed of the machines A and B are a pair of spaced angle-irons 103 the upright webs of which are vertically slotted to receive and form bearings for the axial pintles 104 of the parallel and horizontal cylindrical conveyor-rolls 105 which stand at an elevation such that the plane of the workengaging elements or rug-supporting surfaces of the rolls is slightly higher than .the cloth-plates of the two machines. A slight droopingtendency of the rug-edge such as produced by this arrangement has been found 'to facilitate its accurate guidance into the second machine withf f Thev amount f Cri of the inclination is preferably in the neighborhood of 5 from aline parallel to the direction of feed. The direction of inclination of the rollers is such that a line r--r normal to the axes of the rollers is inclined toward the line of feed f-f, in the direction of feed. It will be understood that the described inclination of the rollers 105 of thewconveyor will cause the rugs moving over the conveyor to creep in a direction toward the line of feed and find and hug the edge-guide 72 automatically, without attention by the operator. The amount of inclination of the rollers 105 should be just suflicient to cause the leading corners of the rugs to cross slightly over the line of the edge-guide 63 and engage the curved end 64 of the edge-guide 63 and be deflected back intosnug engagement with the edge-guide, which snug engagement will be maintained by the` feed of the rugs over therollers 105. Unless the inclined rollers 105 or some equivalent means are provided for automatically insuring that the leading corners of the rugs will accurately enter the second machine, the primary purpose `of arranging the machines A and B in tandem will be lost as an additional operator will be yrequired to present the rugs accurately to the second machine.

The sewing threads are supplied from the usual spools 106 on the spool-holders 107 mounted on the table-top 1.

The finished rug has its header or the portion '73', Fig. 19, of its base 73, which extends beyond the edge of the pile 74, bound by the threethread overseam 108, produced bythe first machine A, for the usual purpose of preventing fraying. The fringe-strip 75 is then superposed upon the overseamed header 73 and stitched to thelatter by the two lines of two-thread chainstitches 109.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein iszv 1. The combination with a plurality of sewing machines arranged in tandem, one behind another, each of said sewing machines having stitch-forming and feeding mechanisms and a presser-foot, of an edge-guide disposed in advance of the presser-foot of a rearwardly disposed machine, and work-supporting means at one side of the tandem machines inclined to shift the work into snug engagement with said edgeguide as the work is being fed through the sewing machines.

2. The combination with a pair of sewing machines arranged in tandem, one behind another, for rug-edge finishing, each of said sewing machines having stitch-forming and feeding mechanisms, a presser-foot, and a cloth-plate, of an edge-guide on the rearwardly disposed machine, and work-supporting means additional to and extending alongside of 'said cloth-plates for supporting the main body of a rug being stitched, said work-supporting means having inclined means tending to shift the rug laterally of the direction of feed toward said edge-guide.

3. The combination withtwo sewing machines arranged in tandem, one behind the other, each of said machines having stitch-forming and feeding mechanisms, a cloth-plate, a presserfoot and an edge-guide, of a work-supporting conveyor arranged alongside said machines, the edge-guide of the rearwardly disposed machine being slightly nearer to the conveyor than the edge-guide of the forwardly disposed machine, and the forward end-portion of the rearwardly disposed edge-guide being inclined forwardly and outwardly away from the stitching zone.

4. The combination with a pair of sewing machines arranged in tandem, one behind another, each of said sewing machines having stitchforming and feeding mechanisms and a presserfoot, of an edge-guide on the rearwardly disposed one of said machines, and work-supporting means disposed alongside said machines and including a roller-conveyor having a plurality of work-supporting rollers the axes of which are 'angularly disposed relatively to theA line of feed with the ends of the rollers remote from the line of feed advanced in the direction of feed.

5. The combinationwith a plurality of sewing machines arranged in tandem, one behind` another, of edge-guiding means, and a roller conveyor disposed alongside the line of feed of the machines, said conveyor comprising a pluralityy of work-supporting rollers the axes of which are arranged transversely of the direction `of feed and sorinclined that a line normal to the roller-axes is inclined in the direction of feed of the work toward the line of feed of the machines. n v

6, The combination with la plurality of sewing machines arranged iny tandem, one behind another, each sewing machine comprising stitch- `formingnand feeding mechanisms, of an edgeguide associated with a rearwardly disposed one of the sewing machines and having its front end curved forwardly and away from the stitching zone, and a roller conveyor disposed alongside the line of feed of themachines, said conveyor comprising a plurality of work-supporting rollers the axes of which are arranged transversely of the direction of feed and so inclined that a line normal to the roller-axes is inclined in the direction of feed of the work toward the line of feed of the machines.

, 7. The combination with two sewing machines arrangedj in tandem, one behind another, each of said machines having stitch-forming and feeding mechanisms and a cloth-plate, of a worksupporting conveyor disposed alongside said-machines, said conveyor comprising a series of rollers the work-engaging elements of which are disposed ina common plane at an elevation slightly higher Athan the sewing machine cloth-plates, whereby the edge ofthe work projecting laterally from the conveyor and overhanging the sewing machine cloth-plates will have a drooping tendency.

8. The combination with a table-top, of two machine` bases mounted on said table-top, one inadvance of the other, the forwardly disposed machine-base having a walled-in portion at one end thereof adapted to receive a sewing machine, said forwardly disposed machine-base having a y pair of spaced bearing posts'rising therefrom at one side of the walled-in portion, a sewing machine seated in said walled-in portion and hav.- ing a main-shaft inline with said spaced bearings, an extension shaft journaled in said spaced bearings, a coupling between said extension shaft and said main-shaft, a hand-wheel on said extension shaft, a second sewing machine seated on the rearwardly disposed machine-base and having a main-shaft, a driving connection between the main-shaft of the second machineand the extension shaft of the forwardly disposed machine, and power-means for driving said ma'- chines. n

9. The combination with a sewing machine including a reciprocatory needle, a presser-foot, and an edge-guide disposed in advance of said presserfoot, of a fringe-strip guide disposed above said edge-guide, a plate between said fringe-strip guide and said needle for supporting the fringestrip in its passage to the needle, said plate having `a forwardly extending tongue with an inclined edge adjacent said fringe-strip guide for catching and directing on top of said plate and away from the stitching zone any downwardly misplaced or underlapping fringe fibres, and

means having an inclined edge spaced above said plate and in rear of said tongue for picking up and directing to one side of the stitching zone any upwardly misplaced or overlapping fringefibres.

10. The combination with a forwardly disposed overseaming sewing machine and a rearwardly disposed two-needle sewing machine arranged in tandem, of fringe-strip supporting and guiding means applied to the two-needle machine, an edge-guide underlying said fringe-strip supporting and guiding means, and means for directing the leading corner of a rug issuing from the first machine to said edge-guide and in underlapping relation to the fringe-strip.

1l. The combination with two sewing machines arranged in tandem, one behind the other, of an edge-guide mounted on the rearwardly disposed machine, said edge-guide having a side edgeguiding wall and a top edge-confining wall, the forward ends of the top wall and side wall being flared upwardly and outwardly, respectively, to form a funnel mouth, and means for automatically directing the leading corner of a rug issuing from the first machine into said funnel mouth and for causing the rug-edge to hug said edgeguide.

12. The 'combination with a sewing machine having stitch-forming mechanism, feeding mechanism, and a rug-edge-guide in advance of the stitch-forming mechanism, of a fringe-strip edgeguide and a fringe-strip lead-in guide disposed in advance of said stitch-forming mechanism above the level of said edge-guide, and inclined means below and above the path of travel of the fringe-strip for directing stray underlapping and overlapping fringe fibres to one side of the stitching zone.

13. The combination with a forwardly disposed sewing machine and a rearwardly disposed sewing machine connected to be driven in tandem, each of said sewing machines having stitch-forming and work-feeding mechanisms, of a workedge guide, a strip-edge guide overlying the workedge guide, and means for directing a strip to said strip-edge guide at an angle to a Vertical plane through the line of feed of the machines and from an initial position of greater overlap to a final position of lesser overlap relative to the stitching zone.

14. In a rug-edge-nishing outfit, the combination with a leading overedge sewing machine and a trailing two-needle sewing machine arranged in tandem, the two-needle machine including an edge-guide the work-edge-engaging wall of which is disposed to one side of the stitching zone of said two-needle machine, means for guiding a fringe-strip above said edge-guide to said two-needle machine, and means for directing the overseamed edge at the leading corner of a rug being operated upon under said fringe strip and into the two-needle machine in snug engagement with said edge-guide without attention by the operator.

15. The combination with a sewing machine including a reciprocatory needle, and an edgeguide, of a fringe-strip-supporting plate disposed above said edge-guide, means including a lead-in guide and a fringe-strip edge-guide for guiding a fringe-strip to and over the upper side of said plate, said plate havingv a forwardly extending tongue underlapping the fringe-strip and formed with an edge inclined to the direction of travel of the fringe-strip for catching and directing on top of said plate and away from the stitching Zone any downwardly misplaced or underlapping fringe fibres.

16. The combination with a sewing machine having stitch-forming mechanism, feeding mechanism, a presser-foot and a cloth-plate, of an edge-guide mounted on said cloth-plate in advance of said presser-foot, a flat fringe-strip-supporting plate overhanging said edge-guide, and devices, inclined to the direction of travel of said fringe-strip and disposed, respectively, above and below the zone of travel of the fringe-strip, for directing to one side of the stitching Zone any underlapping or overlapping fringe fibres.

IRVING F. WEBB. 

